US News

Hardheaded Hillary

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday grabbed her helmet and charged back into the hard-knocks game of DC politics.

Clinton got the football helmet — a gag gift from State Department staff — to mark her first day back at work after a month sidelined by various health scares, including a concussion and a blood clot in her head.

“As you know, Washington is a contact sport,” joked department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

The staff also gave Clinton a football jersey with the number 112 — the number of countries she visited as the top US diplomat.

“She thought it was cool. But then, being Hillary Clinton, she wanted to get right to business,” Nuland told reporters.

The gifts were presented at a closed-door staff meeting.

Clinton has long planned to vacate the post early this year, and President Obama has picked Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to replace her.

Before she goes, Clinton is expected to testify to Congress about department missteps that contributed to the deadly Sept. 11 terror attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Clinton canceled her testimony last month after falling and sustaining a concussion.